Don't believe in Mackenzie Blackwood? Here's why the Avs' new goalie might be entering his 'superstar years'

Retired NHL goalie Cory Schneider remembers playing for the New Jersey Devils in 2018, sharing the net at practice with a monstrous rookie netminder who carved up the ice like hed never seen.

He would gouge the ice, Schneider recalled with a laugh.

I used to hate doing goalie drills with him because he would just dig a hole into the ice by the post, because hes so strong and powerful.

Every time he would cut in, it would shave the ice away until there was a divot.

Advertisement The rookie was Mackenzie Blackwood , who is now in his seventh year in the NHL, and who was traded from San Jose to Colorado on Monday .

The Avalanche acquired Blackwood for their former starting goalie, Alexandar Georgiev , and several draft picks and prospects in hopes hell live up to his sky-high potential and solidify the crease.

At forward and defense, Colorado has the talent of a top Stanley Cup contender, but has been consistently let down by the worst goaltending in the league this year.

Is Blackwood the missing puzzle piece? On the surface, that may seem like an easy no, but youll be hard-pressed to find a goalie with a bigger discrepancy between perceived talent by people in the know, and results on the ice, than Blackwood.

The 28-year-old hasnt posted a save percentage above .900 in the last three seasons, and hasnt allowed fewer than three goals per game since his second season in the NHL in 2019-20.

Still, experts across the goaltending world watch Blackwood play and see massive untapped potential.

There are those who have worked with him and played alongside him who believe the Avalanche may have just acquired a sleeping giant ready to break out as a star.

Hes the right age.

He is coming into his superstar years now, said retired NHL goalie Eddie Lack, who was Blackwoods goalie partner for two seasons with the AHLs Binghamton Devils.

He is just so close to pulling through and becoming a top-five or top-10 goalie in the league.

I think hes got that in him.

A second-round draft pick by the Devils in 2015, Blackwood entered the league as a highly-touted prospect coming out of the Ontario Hockey League.

After his first two seasons in the NHL, he looked to be well on his way to fulfilling that promise.

He posted a .918 save percentage in 21 starts in 2018-19 and passed Martin Brodeur as the youngest Devils goaltender to record multiple regular-season shutouts.

He followed that up with a solid second year that earned him votes for the Calder Trophy.

Advertisement Hes a phenomenal athlete, Lack recalled.

That kid is so strong and so flexible.

He did things on the ice that I wouldnt even be able to sniff.

Blackwood was just as impressive off the ice.

Even in the gym, the guy didnt really lift like a regular goalie, Lack said.

He was a lot stronger than the rest of us.

Just a beast.

So powerful.

At 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, Blackwood has always naturally put on muscle easier than most.

He had to tailor his workouts in New Jersey because he was getting so strong, Schneider recalled.

They were saying, lets dial it back here.

We dont want you to get too big or too strong.

He couldve been a tight end in the NFL and wouldnt be out of place.

Even for a supreme athlete, goaltending doesnt come easy.

Executing at an elite level requires a game with a level of sophistication and understanding that takes time to develop.

After Blackwood had several injury-plagued seasons with subpar statistics, the Devils allowed him to walk in free agency, and he signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2023.

Over the last two seasons, Blackwood battled valiantly behind one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL.

His baseline statistics wont impress you.

He went 16-34-7 as a starter with a .902 save percentage with San Jose.

The underlying metrics, which account for the quality of shots faced, paint a very different picture.

Blackwood saved an impressive 11.07 goals above expected last season according to Evolving-Hockey, and already has 6.41 GSAx in 17 starts this season.

Were excited about Mackenzie, Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said following the trade on Monday.

We certainly believe hes a solid starter in this league, and we have (metrics) that we feel back that up.

Were excited to add him.

The Avalanche began the year on an 0-4 slide and have climbed back into the Western Conference playoff chase despite still having the worst team save percentage in the league.

Advertisement It shook us to the core with the rough start, Im not going to lie, MacFarland said.

We came out of the gate really slow, and its not a secret, our goaltending hasnt been up to standard.

Georgiev ranks near the bottom of the league in nearly every goaltending metric, and young backup Justus Annunen didnt fare much better in his starts.

MacFarland made his first move on Nov.

30, trading Annunen and a sixth-round pick to Nashville for veteran backup Scott Wedgewood , who has played well for the Avalanche.

As impressive as Wedgewood has been in limited action, MacFarland knew he needed to upgrade the starter.

We think with Scott Wedgewood, theres a lot of (former Avalanche backup Pavel) Francouz similarities, and what I mean by that is hes a veteran, he knows the role, hes going to push for starts, MacFarland said.

Hes going to be supportive of the other guy.

He can sit for five, six, seven, eight, nine or 10 days and be sharp as a tack.

Hes a guy that if we need him to play five out of seven, or seven out of ten, we feel good about it.

Wedgewood is an ideal backup, but with Georgiev still struggling, MacFarland opted to make another trade to bring in Blackwood.

Its not easy to make goaltending trades, he said.

I know people think its just picking up a phone and making an offer.

Teams dont trade starting goaltenders in this league easily, so it was a challenge for us to make these two deals.

The Avalanche are the first team in NHL history to trade both of their opening-night goalies before Christmas, according to TNT.

They paid a handsome fee to do it, losing several draft picks and talented prospect Nikolai Kovalenko .

You have to give to get, MacFarland said.

The goalie market is a bear.

Its not easy in-season to get starting goaltenders in this league.

We wanted to get ahead of it, and thats the cost of doing business.

Advertisement If it works out, the moves will be well worth the price.

Letting a season with Nathan MacKinnon , Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar in their primes go to waste due to subpar goaltending would be a major problem.

MacFarland and plenty of others believe Blackwood could be the answer.

We feel that hes just gotten better and better every year, MacFarland said.

We believe theres some untapped potential in him as hes growing as a goaltender.

...

Hes a big body.

Hes athletic.

We think hes stylistically going to play really well with how we play.

Because of his size and athleticism, Blackwood excels at stopping high-danger chances on the rush in particular.

His .842 save percentage in those situations is well above the league average (.807) and ranks inside the top 10 league-wide.

As a quick-skating, high-octane team, the Avalanche could benefit from a goalie with that style.

He can do the splits, he can make those toe-to-toe saves, Schneider said.

Hes incredibly strong, but hes really flexible and thats a rare combination.

Thats why I compare him to (Andrei) Vasilevskiy.

He just covers a tremendous amount of the bottom part of the net, while still staying upright and using that flexibility to maintain his posture.

Comparisons to the two-time Cup champion in Tampa Bay shouldnt be taken lightly.

Schneider really believes in Blackwoods physical tools.

If God built a goalie in a lab, it would look like him, he said.

Freakishly athletic.

With all of that being true, theres still a reason Blackwood was available for trade, and a reason he commanded only a two-year deal with a $2.35 million AAV when he hit the free-agent market two summers ago.

For him, it was always about the mental side, Schneider said.

Just maturing mentally and emotionally, which is a normal process for a goalie, and then maturing his game to match that.

...

I think hes finally coming around as hes getting older, learning the league and getting that experience.

Advertisement As MacFarland said, teams arent exactly lining up to trade away starting goalies in December.

Any goalie available at the moment is going to have flaws, and there are plenty of those in Blackwoods game that have held him short of his potential.

To get a goalie with that type of upside is a smart bet for the Avalanche.

Especially when you consider this teams recent history of getting the most out of goalies.

Philipp Grubauer had never been a starter when Colorado traded for him in 2018.

He posted a .918 save percentage over three years with the Avalanche, won 18 playoff games and was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2021.

From there, he signed a long-term contract with Seattle and hasnt performed at nearly the same level since.

The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup with Darcy Kuemper in 2022, and while Kuemper has enjoyed a long, successful career, he had more playoff wins in one season in Colorado (10) than in the other 12 years of his career combined (seven).

Georgiev had also never been a true starter when he came to Colorado in 2022.

All he did was lead the NHL with 78 wins over his first two seasons behind the Avalanche.

Its no guarantee that Blackwood will see a similar rise, but this feels like the perfect landing spot for an ultra-talented goalie hoping to reach his potential.

The biggest challenge for him will be going to a team thats ready to win with Stanley Cup aspirations, Schneider said.

I dont know that hes really faced that pressure or expectation yet.

Hes seen a lot of rubber, but hes played some pretty inconsequential games in the big picture.

This will be his opportunity to prove that.

Im kind of excited to see how he does and how he responds.

If he responds well, itll be good news for MacFarland and the Avalanche, who already see a future with Blackwood beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of this season.

Obviously, we want the player to get settled in here and focus on the hockey, and when the time is right well certainly see if theres something that can make sense, MacFarland said about signing Blackwood to an extension.

Id be lying to you if I said were acquiring him for four months of hockey, but well let him do his thing.

(Top photo of Mackenzie Blackwood: Steph Chambers / Getty Images).

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